When Strange Cargo was commissioned to produce an installation for the Folkestone Triennial arts festival, it came up with an elaborately crafted titanium plaque — called The Luckiest Place on Earth — that incorporated a variety of lucky symbols into its design (including horseshoes, wishbones, clovers, shooting stars and black cats).

This was positioned under Folkestone Central railway bridge; passers-by were invited to make a wish, leave a penny and remove someone else’s penny.

The piece was accurately ‘3-D printed’ by a Renishaw AM250 laser melting machine (www.renishaw.com).

The company’s head of communications, Chris Pockett, said: “We are very pleased with how accurately our additive-manufacturing machine was able to produce Strange Cargo’s unusual and alluring design for a ‘luck and wish recycling point’.

The piece is yet another example of the potential of 3-D printing when it comes to design freedom. No longer just a prototyping method, it’s a practical solution for producing highly complex one-off builds.”

Brigitte Orasinski, artistic director at Strange Cargo, said: “Working with Renishaw was an incredible experience, thanks to their approachability, innovation and expertise. I still can’t believe how quickly they were able to create such complex designs.”